Items tagged with tablet

Lenovo recently released one of the most interesting tablet hybrids in recent memory, just in time for the holidays. The Yoga Book has a digital keyboard that doubles as a sketch pad that even accommodates plain old paper, giving users several ways to draw images or jot notes. In fact, the tablet aspect of the machine is one of the most creative (and fun) concepts we’ve seen this year. The Yoga Book differs from traditional tablet first hybrid devices in several ways, but the most noticeable of these is the permanently attached keyboard, which is a departure from traditional 10-inch tablet...Read more...

Season's greetings; it's that time of year again, when we here at Hot Hardware assemble our holiday gift guides for your browsing and shopping pleasure. There was an embarrassment of riches this year, as the industry continued to innovate and come up with interesting new designs based on the latest, greatest technologies. Those of us buying computer hardware demand more and faster from every iteration, and many OEMs usually manage to deliver. Some don't but you won't see them on this list. This list is a collection of some of the best hardware for gifting in four top categories that we think are...Read more...

If you're in the market for a new tablet that also doubles as an e-reader, you may want to hold off for just a little bit. Rumors suggest Barnes & Noble will be releasing a new iteration of its NOOK Tablet in the very near future to battle in the low-end sector of the tablet market traditionally dominated by the Amazon Kindle Fire. According to the leaked specs, it seems certain that this NOOK, called Tablet 7, will not be that expensive. It is likely being used to help Barnes & Noble better compete against the likes of Amazon, which itself offers a meager-spec'd Fire tablet for a...Read more...

Microsoft Surface tablets have come under fire by one of the most successful head coaches in the history of the National Football League and by extension one of the most successful NFL teams, so the exposure is significant. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is done with using tablets on the sidelines. As outside observers of a sport, it's sometimes easy to dismiss the complexities surrounding the games we watch. While in all team sports, coordination between team staff is important, it's downright imperative in the game of Football and for the NFL. Depth charts, team formation photos,...Read more...

Ever since smartphones became a de facto communication medium in our lives, studies have been conducted to find out whether or not extended use of the devices is healthy. From a general standpoint, it's easy to understand how these phones can clutter our lives and leave folks occasionally ignoring everyone around them, but conversely, there's obviously myriad ways in which these devices can enhance our lives. In a recent study, there's proof of the pros and cons, and we're warned to consider the risks and help negate them. This particular study took a look at how families interacted with each other...Read more...

For the first time, Amazon's Alexa voice service is headed to a tablet. It's one of the standout features of Amazon's new Fire HD 8, a budget slate built from the ground up to offer users all-day battery life, faster performance, and double the onboard storage of previous versions Fire HD tablets. The kicker here is its $90 price tag. While not without its competitors, it's fair to say that Amazon dominates the low-cost tablet market with its highly popular Fire HD line. The new Fire HD 8 won't do anything to compromise Amazon's position in the tablet market. Just the opposite, its poised to bolster...Read more...

A new standard is set to allow native HDMI output for devices with USB Type-C connectors. It could prove to be a great feature as more smartphones, notebooks, 2-in-1s, and tablet devices adopt the next generation USB interface and ultimately enable another option for these devices to act as media streamers or for big screen gaming on the go. Allowing HDMI output from USB-C could also give manufacturers the ability to eliminate HDMI connectors from their devices, to further slim them down or streamline their design. The HDMI licensing group is ready to set a standard on a specification that will...Read more...

2016 has not been a great year for tablets, but experts predict that tablets sales will perk up by 2018. Tablet sales have been down 11.5% this year and "only" 183.4 million units have been shipped. Many experts, however, expect that tablet sales will begin to increase in 2018 and reach 194.2 million shipments by 2020.Why is the tablet market such a roller coaster ride? Larger, detachable tablets are the reason. Consumers want devices that are multi-functional. Many would consider, a larger, detachable tablet to be more useful and cost efficient than a tablet and laptop. By the end of this year,...Read more...

Over the past couple of months, many Surface Pro 3 users have complained of rapid battery drain. As we reported at the time, Microsoft's Panos Panay said that the SP3's battery should hold up to weekday charges over the course of four-and-a-half years, at which point the battery would be expected to have about 80% of its capacity remaining. Even though Surface Pro 3s were released a couple of years ago, most users' batteries should not be draining noticeably quicker quite yet. In last month's post, we noted that Microsoft believes the issue could be fixed through software, and over the weekend,...Read more...

At the end of July, we learned that there would be a chance of Android N coming out in August. Thanks to a leak that came out of Canadian carrier Telus, we might have just gained an even more accurate answer: August 22nd. The information leaked from Telus is a simple schedule of updates hitting various phone models. This list states which each update is, and for Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X, August 22nd will be the day for the "Android N Update". Per the information we found last month, it still appears that the Nexus 5 will not be treated to any nougat-flavored OS -- a harsh reminder of just how quickly...Read more...

Tablet PCs have been around for ages, but when Apple released its first iPad, it's as if the world suddenly realized just how useful they could be. Immediately, iPads flew off the shelves, and a countless number of competitors popped out of nowhere with their own take on things. In recent years, Microsoft has even got in on the action, ruling the roost where Windows slates are concerned. But, as IDC's latest report highlights, tablets are on the decline, which is sure to leave a sour taste in the mouths of those who still love them. Decline doesn't mean down-and-out, though: there could always...Read more...

The market for dedicated tablets based on mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS is in decline, but the same can't be said for 2-in-1 detachable Windows PCs. These hybrid tablet/laptop systems offer an additional level of utility that standalone tablets don't provide, and best of all, they don't force consumers on a budget to choose one form factor over the other. Microsoft envisioned this very scenario playing out when it introduced Windows 8 and later its first Surface tablets. Now we have Windows 10 and newer generation Surface models that are much improved from the original, along...Read more...

ASUS has teamed up with Verizon to announce a new 8-inch class slate, the ZenPad Z8 (ZT581KL) powered by a 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 hexa-core System-on-Chip (SoC) with Adreno 510 graphics. Verizon is the only one taking pre-orders on the ZenPad Z8 and will carry the slate in stores next Thursday (June 23). "ASUS is excited to launch the ZenPad Z8 with Verizon. The ASUS ZenPad Z8 brings an incredible feature set and top-end specifications to Verizon customers at a very attractive price," says Benson Lin, corporate vice president and general manager for mobile communications, ASUS. "We’re thrilled...Read more...

It's been rumored for some time that NVIDIA had lost interest in the mobile phone business, and that's something company co-founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang confirmed during his company's presentation at Computex. None of this is much of a surprise, as the company's Tegra SoC hasn't found itself inside of a commercially successful smartphone, but this confirmation is a bit sobering nonetheless. NVIDIA has what it takes to create an incredible smartphone SoC, and has proven that it can even build great devices surrounding those SoCs. But at the end of the day, the ROI for that particular venture...Read more...